How to plot your career roadmap

How do you know if your job is the right one for you? Whether you're planning to build your career as an entrepreneur or in the corporate world, learn from the life experiences of two successful leaders.

By Mabel Tan

If the thought of having to plan out your entire post-graduation work life makes you anxious, fret not because you do not necessarily require a structured career plan to be successful.

Instead, it is important to continually assess your job scope and your reason for being there, says Mark Billington, fellow of Chartered Accountant and Southeast Asia regional director of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Additionally, it is also crucial to take into account factors such as personality, work skills, interests, value system and family environment, adds Lim Der Shing, chief executive officer of JobsCentral Group.

Tip 1: Evaluate the job's satisfaction level

Billington admits to not having "much of an idea" about what he was letting himself into when he started his first job as an audit trainee at BDO Stoy Hayward — an audit, accounting and business services firm in London.

Nevertheless, for him, it seemed an obvious continuation at that time after attaining his post-'A' level certificate in Accounting and Finance.

As for Lim, it seemed a natural progression for the University of Michigan alumnus to be an engineer after having graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Summa Cum Laude). However, he knew being an engineer was not something he wanted to dedicate his life to when he started dreading work each day.

"I was always reading about dotcom companies and their founders, and could not visualise myself working as an engineer in the long term without at least giving my dreams a chance to materialise," he recalls.

"This was what prompted me to start an online business as I was fascinated with the way the Internet is changing the way businesses and consumers interact. At the same time, I also have a strong desire to control my time and life. Running my own business fulfills both objectives."

Tip 2: Do not fear changing careers
After being recognised as an associate chartered accountant upon gaining his qualification, Billington steered into consultancy work and subsequently entered a blue-chip company to broaden his experience beyond finance.

But even though it made sense for him to pursue a career in a field which he majored in, Billington had also gone through a fair number of jobs. "I have made many career changes including taking up roles in sales, project management, and strategy and business development across a number of industries."

The key to successful change, he shares, equates to the sum of hard work, flexibility, and team integration, plus a little bit of luck.

"I think the hardest thing has been to balance the advancement of my career with the time I've spent, particularly in my international roles," Billington adds. "If I had any regret, it would be not getting this balance right."

Tip 3: Maintain a positive attitude
For Lim, taking the plunge to fulfil his entrepreneurship dreams without analysing the possible downsides or repercussions of the business presented him with many difficulties during the initial years of his start-up.

One major challenge he experienced initially was convincing prospective clients to purchase his product, especially when he had entered the field during the growth stage of online career portals, when there were already a few players present in the burgeoning market. So how did he overcome the initial hurdles?

"I saw this as a fun way of gaining new experiences every day. This enabled me to deal with the stress of handling difficult clients and not being profitable then," Lim says, adding that he finally managed to tackle this challenge by taking each day as it came and convincing potential clients, one at a time, to use the services on offer.

"My business ultimately worked because we identified a feasible business model and assembled a strong team over the past 10 years. Along the way, we also expanded the team with more good people, listened to our clients and users, and evolved our products accordingly to suit their needs and wants."

Tip 4: Be a team player, but strive to be the best

From his perspective as an employer, Lim says a "good" employee is someone who possesses key qualities such as the ability to work well with others at the workplace and the ability to align well with organisational goals.

Billington adds, "The ability to connect with people is really important. Having good communication skills and a questioning mind also helps. These are life skills that you start learning at home during your formative years and are much more difficult to build on later in life."

Conclusion
According to Billington, who has successfully managed to climb his way up the corporate ladder, the secret to success is to not believe that success has reached your door because it has the power to drive us forward towards achieving greater results.

As for Lim, who has grown his business from a zero-revenue start-up to the multi-million-dollar venture it is today, he believes that while career planning is important, it is also imperative to be able to think on your feet if things do not always go as planned.

The JobsCentral Group, a CareerBuilder company, is the owner of JobsCentral.com.sg, one of Singapore's largest job and learning portals. Get a free career personality test and more career- and education-related articles at JobsCentral and JobsCentral Community.